Zećira Mušović

Zećira Mušović (born 26 May 1996) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Sweden national team.

Zećira Mušović
Mušović with FC Rosengård in 2015
Personal information
Full name Zećira Mušović[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-26) 26 May 1996
Place of birth Falun, Sweden
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 1
Youth career
2005–2011 Stattena IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Stattena IF 29 (0)
2012–2020 FC Rosengård 108 (0)
2021– Chelsea 19 (0)
International career‡
2012 Sweden U17 5 (0)
2013–2016 Sweden U19 26 (0)
2016–2018 Sweden U23 4 (0)
2018– Sweden 16 (0)
Medal record
Women's soccer
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2020 TokyoTeam
FIFA Women's World Cup
Third place2019 France
Third place2023 Australia/New Zealand
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 May 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 August 2023

Early life

Mušović was born in Falun, Sweden in 1996 to a family of Bosniak origin.[2] Her family had previously lived in the town of Prijepolje in Yugoslavia. In 1992, her parents and three older siblings fled to Sweden to escape the Yugoslav Wars. They settled in the province of Scania, where Mušović joined the youth system of Stattena IF, a football club in the city of Helsingborg.[3][4] Zećira has said she misses Prijepolje, and often visits Bosnia and Herzegovina: "I miss Prijepolje. I have many relatives there. Prijepolje is a very beautiful city and I have a lot of love for it. I also have a lot of relatives in Bosnia and every year I try to visit my favorite city, Sarajevo."[5]

She has an older brother and two older sisters.[6] She describes her brother as her role model and began playing football because of him.[3]

Club career

Mušović began playing football for Stattena IF as a nine-year-old. She spent two seasons with the club's senior women's team in Division 2 in 2011 and 2012, helping the club secure promotion in the latter campaign.

She transferred from Stattena to LdB FC Malmö in October 2012.[7] In 2013 she understudied Þóra Björg Helgadóttir, who was named Goalkeeper of the Year as Malmö secured the 2013 Damallsvenskan championship. Malmö rebranded as FC Rosengård for the 2014 Damallsvenskan and Mušović was elevated to first team contention when Helgadóttir left the club during the mid-season break.

German import Kathrin Längert then vied with Mušović for Rosengård's goalkeeper position. When Mušović secured increasing first team participation in the 2015 Damallsvenskan, the club announced they were pleased with her development and awarded a new 2.5-year contract in May 2015.[8]

Playing for FC Rosengård in November 2018

Mušović received two setbacks ahead of the 2016 Damallsvenskan season. First Rosengård signed Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod, then Mušović broke her arm while playing for Sweden U-23s. In the event McLeod suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, so the club had to bring in veteran Sofia Lundgren as cover.[9]

After some long conversations with Rosengård director of football Therese Sjögran, Mušović agreed to remain at the club although she was unhappy at losing her place in the team once McLeod recovered from her injured knee. Instead of making a transfer request, she resolved to improve aspects of her own game by training alongside her experienced Canadian rival.[10]

In October 2017 Mušović was given a new three-year contract by Rosengård. She declared: "FC Rosengård has always been and will always be the club in my heart".[11] McLeod's lucrative contract was not extended, causing her team-mate and then wife Ella Masar to quit the club in solidarity.[12]

International career

Mušović captained Sweden under-19s to the 2015 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship final stage in Israel. She was disappointed when FC Rosengård stopped her attending the tournament because they needed her for club fixtures. The disappointment was compounded when Sweden under-19s won the competition.[10]

Despite having lost her position as first choice at club level, Mušović was called up by incoming Sweden national team coach Peter Gerhardsson for the opening 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers.[4] She attended several matches as a non-playing substitute, then won her first senior cap in March 2018, securing a debut clean sheet in a 3–0 win over Russia at the 2018 Algarve Cup.[13]

Mušović endured a difficult second appearance for Sweden, when she deputised for Hedvig Lindahl in a friendly against Italy in October 2018. Her handling error allowed Daniela Sabatino to score the only goal of the match.[14] In May 2019 she was one of three goalkeepers selected by Sweden for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, alongside Lindahl and the uncapped Jennifer Falk.[15] She did not play during the World Cup, and continued in her early years with the national team to struggle to earn starts, in particular during major tournaments.[16][17][18]

Mušović was part of the Swedish delegation to the 2020 Summer Olympics, where Sweden ultimately reached the final, losing to Canada.[19] She did not take the pitch during the tournament, but drew notice as one of the players to publicly criticize the initial scheduling of the final, which resulted in its being moved to accommodate high temperatures in Tokyo at the time.[20]

On 13 June 2023, Mušović was included in Sweden's 23-player squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.[21] With Lindahl out, the choice for starting goalkeeper was between her and Falk, with Mušović ultimately earning the distinction. She played the team's first two matches in Group G, victories over South Africa and Italy.[17][16] In the round of 16 match against the United States, she made 11 saves; the United States did not score a goal during regular or extra time. Sweden ultimately advanced to the quarter-finals after a 5–4 penalty shootout win, and Mušović was named player of the match, being widely regarded as the principal reason her side had advanced.[22][23] The match significantly raised her international profile.[18][17][16] Sweden went on to beat a favoured Japan in the quarter-final.[24] A loss to Spain in the semi-final sent them to the third-place match, where Mušović kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over hosts Australia, securing her second World Cup bronze.[25]

Career statistics

International
As of match played 21 February 2023[26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 201820
201900
202020
202110
202230
202310
Total90

Personal life

Mušović is in a relationship with Swedish professional ice hockey player Alen Bibić.[13] In 2018, Mušović graduated with a degree in economics from Lund University. Her older brother Huso Mušović was himself a lower division footballer.[27]

Mušović maintains a personal blog at her own website. She has firm political views and challenged two of her social media contacts over their support for the controversial Sweden Democrats party at the 2018 Swedish general election.[28]

Honours
FC Rosengård
Chelsea
Sweden

References
  1. "FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 – Squad List: Sweden (SWE)" (PDF). FIFA. 11 July 2023. p. 28. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  2. "Women's World Cup: Sweden's goalkeeper irritated by 'disrespectful' question".
  3. "Who is Zecira Musovic, Sweden's breakout Women's World Cup star?". 10 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  4. Fredriksson, Emelie (16 September 2017). "Musovic: "Karriären var ett skämt"" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  5. Alibegović, Jasmin (14 January 2019). "Zećira Mušović: Želim biti najbolja na svijetu" (in Bosnian). Dnevni avaz. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20230813190543/https://theathletic.com/4752967/2023/08/06/zecira-musovic-sweden-world-cup/
  7. Ahlin, Linus (12 October 2012). "Zecira lämnar för mästarlaget" (in Swedish). Helsingborgs Dagblad. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  8. Cederlund, Christer (19 May 2015). "Nytt kontrakt för Musovic" (in Swedish). Skånska Dagbladet. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  9. Brattgård, Louv (12 April 2016). "FC Rosengård förlänger med Lundgren" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  10. Friberg, Anna (16 April 2016). "Zecira Musovic: "Jag ska bli bäst i världen"" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  11. "Zećira Mušović har förlängt sitt kontrakt med FC Rosengård" (in Swedish). FC Rosengård. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  12. Forsberg, Aron (1 November 2017). "Rosengårds bästa målskytt lämnar: "Mitt stoltaste ögonblick är att nobba erbjudandet"" (in Swedish). Fotboll Skanalen. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  13. Andersson, Jan Peter (10 March 2018). "Mušović om kärleken: "Alen är väldigt stolt"" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  14. Tengblad, Mattias (9 October 2018). "Sverige föll tungt efter missen: "Är olyckligt"" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  15. "Gerhardssons VM-trupp presenterad" [Gerhardsson's World Cup squad presented] (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  16. Morgan, Chloe (6 August 2023). "Zecira Musovic: Who is the Sweden goalkeeper that helped knock USWNT out of the World Cup?". The Athletic. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  17. Rogers, Martin (13 August 2023). "How goalkeeper Zećira Mušović became Sweden's unlikely World Cup hero". Fox Sports. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  18. "Who is Sweden heroine Zecira Musovic?". FIFA. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  19. "Canada beat Sweden on penalties to win gold". BBC Sport. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  20. Garry, Tom (5 August 2021). "Women's Olympic football final kick-off time pushed back over teams' heat fears". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  21. "Sweden veteran Seger to play at fifth World Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  22. Lynch, Joey (6 August 2023). "Sweden coach: Mušović saves psyched out U.S. stars in shootout". ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  23. Hamilton, Tom (9 August 2023). "Musovic mentality key vs. USWNT and in Sweden's World Cup run". ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  24. Downey, Sophie (11 August 2023). "Impressive Sweden stun Japan to secure World Cup semi-final against Spain". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  25. Khan, Jo (19 August 2023). "Matildas sign off with defeat as Sweden secure third place at Women's World Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  26. Zećira Mušović at Soccerway
  27. Dencker, Torbjörn (8 December 2015). "Huso Musovic: "Jag brinner lite extra för Stattena"" (in Swedish). Alltid Fullsatt. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  28. Mušović, Zećira (29 August 2018). "Landslagsläger i Göteborg och SD-sympatisörer i vänlistan" (in Swedish). Zeciramusovic.com(from archive.org). Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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